Guidance
by In Pieces
Summary: AU. Being a father just wasn't easy for Vergil.
1. Invisible monsters I

**This a sequel to ****_Complications_**** and ****_Misconceptions_****, although it can stand on its own.**

**_Guidance _****will be a series of one shots that revolves about the father-son relationship of Vergil and Nero. They are not going to be uploaded in chronological order.**

**Without further ado, on with the story. Hope you like it.**

* * *

Vergil had no troubles with rain, in any case, he was fond of it and it was one of the things he truly enjoyed. Rain had a certain quality to it; he didn't know if it was the roar of thunder that occasionally accompanied it or the subtle soothing quality that irrevocably arrived when it started to pour. Perhaps it even reminded him of something that happened not so long ago; the glorious beginning of a carefully crafted plan that circumstances didn't allow to be completed. Yet, failure was not a word he relished, he thought of it as a mistake, one he swore he would never repeat.

At the time, the problem was Nero. He was too different from him, far too human for Vergil's liking. The little pest had decided that no matter how cold it was outside he wouldn't wear a jacket, and Vergil obliged. It would be Nero's problem. If he wanted to get sick so be it, he was not going to take care of him. Let it be a lesson for the kid for disobeying him.

Yet, he never expected rain or the occasional thunder. Those sounds acted as a lullaby and inevitably put Nero in a drowsy state that later became a tiredness that had him sleeping in one of the couches. And Vergil silently acknowledged that he would rather see the kid asleep that awake and bouncing around.

Vergil was beside the sleeping body of Nero, staring dully at the television screen waiting for the rain to quieten so they could leave when Dante awoke from his nap on his desk chair and walked over to the fridge to grab a beer.

The fridge's door opened with a clinking sound as bottles clashed with each other, followed by the high-pitched sound of aluminum snapping and the door closing harshly.

"The kid told you about his nightmares?" Dante asked out of the blue before taking a sip of his drink.

Vergil glanced at the sleeping child. "No." The kid could barely talk; he dragged words, spoke either too fast or nearly in a whisper. He confused words, tried to say something and end up naming something completely different. Hell, he even had to take a small pause to say his name correctly.

"Well," Dante started before taking a seat at the other end of the couch. "He's been dreaming about a so-called monster. He doesn't mess with his head yet, but appears far too often."

Vergil didn't have to ask. He knew exactly what it all was about.

Taking in consideration that Nero was only a partial Devil, Vergil even doubted that he would ever show signs of it. Still, Sparda's blood ran in his veins, even if it was just a fraction of it minimized by the human blood in his system.

Nero was a mistake. Vergil didn't deny it, but never say it out loud. It was a thought that pestered him deep down; every time he saw his son's face he saw his errors bluntly mocking him, a perfect example of what he had done wrong.

Yet, he wasn't going to deny him. He couldn't say that he loved Nero or felt a sense of affection towards the child; it was merely a primal instinct of protection for his spawn.

"Listen," Dante said before he could say anything. His tone drastically changed from the casual tone he showed before to a serious one. "Let him be a child. Let him believe that what he saw were just dreams; put a nightlight on his room and blame it on nightmares. Just…Let him be normal for a couple of years."

"He is my child. I do not care for your pathetic needs."

They both felt the atmosphere changing around them, this was no longer a casual conversation; it became a verbal battle that neither wanted to lose.

Dante signed and took a sip of his beer. "Kid doesn't have a mother, spends a lot of time in a questionable shop in one of the worst neighborhoods in the city, he doesn't have any friends other than us - for now-."

"Your point?" Vergil was not going to let Dante tell him what to do, if anything, he was the less suitable of the two to be taking decisions about Nero. Not that it truly mattered, anyways.

Dante leaned against the arm rest of the couch so he could face Vergil completely. "Kids are cruel, and he has enough to be set as an outcast. If you tell him what he is now, he's not going to keep it a secret. He's going to run around saying it to everyone. You are smart enough to figure out the rest."

* * *

It was past eleven when Vergil and Nero left Devil May cry. Dante had offered them to stay for the night and, even though Nero would have no objection if he had been awake at the time, Vergil refused the offering and opted to leave.

It wasn't a long walk from his home, and waking Nero to make him walk was a thought that didn't cross his mind, he merely carried the sleeping kid, fully knowing that he had woken up hallway there and then pretended to be asleep.

The kid didn't move until he was placed on top of his bed, where he worked his way around the cover and into the warmth of the blankets and pillows.

"Dad?" Nero called out, his voice coming out strangled and high pitched.

"Yes?" Vergil looked at his over his shoulder as he stood in the door frame.

"I think there's a monster in my room." Nero whispered in a hushed tone, almost as if afraid whatever monster was around would hear him revealing it.

"I recall telling you to stop eating sweets at night." Vergil replied after a pause before closing the door behind him.

Nero let out a shaky breath as he stared at the door and slowly but surely, everything around him started to look engulfed by darkness and, like every night, he placed the blankets over his head.

He wanted to call his father, tell him to stay with him for the night or at least until he feel asleep, to do anything that could make the thing that was bothering him go away.

Yet, he never heard that invisible call. Nero heard the door to Vergil's bedroom closing down the hallway and that was it.

Feeling suffocated and in need of air, he slowly poked his head from the blankets and gave the light seeping under the door a long stare before allowing his eyes to close.

* * *

Thank you for reading!

Disclaimer: Devil May Cry and its characters belong to Capcom.


	2. Weaponry

Vergil had no idea of what Nero would become when he grew older, but he knew that he didn't want his child to have an ordinary human life.

The kid showed interest in weapons and often tried to convince him to let him play with his blade. He had no luck with those intentions with him, but Dante always seemed eager to please him. The red clad Devil would let him touch the hilts of his swords, help him hold one of his guns or carry him on his shoulders to show him a good view of the trophies he kept on the walls of his office.

Vergil didn't mind that others gave Nero presents -especially ones that kept him busy- but the cap gun Dante gave him was unpleasant. Nero spent most of the day running around firing the ring rounds that made a muffled gunshot sound and released smoke every time he pulled the plastic trigger.

It was distasteful, to say the least.

Dante kept encouraging him to use the toy and, when a laughing Nero stood in front of him and fired one of the rounds, Dante clasped his arm or side and said: "You got me kiddo, now run before I can get my hands on you." That was enough to send the already hyperactive child into a running spree as he pretended to shoot Dante's trophies. Dante didn't even chase him, if anything, he pretended he was going to stand up from his chair by slamming his palm with little force against the desk.

Vergil didn't want the kid to get used to guns; there were better options than fake gunpowder and bullets, he just had to show him.

The next time Dante saw Vergil and Nero, the kid had a plastic sword. He made a mess as he pretended to slash things with the toy that ended up in them being thrown in random directions.

But at one point, to Vergil's dismay, he pulled out the cap gun from his backpack and started to play with both weapons.

Vergil could only give him credit for being versatile.

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I'd like to thank everyone who added the story to their favorites or followed it.

Shout-out to _semenosuke_ for that lovely review!

Disclaimer: Devil May Cry and its characters belong to Capcom.


	3. Obedience

"You are an imbecile." Vergil stated simply as he glanced at the white cast on Nero's right arm.

"That's all you're going to say?" Nero snapped as he released the spoon in his left hand and let it clash into the bowl full of cereal in front of him, splattering milk across the surface of the table. "I could've been killed back there!"

"Good, "Vergil said, unamused and unsurprised with his son's sudden outburst. "That would have taught you a valuable lesson about obedience. I told you to wait."

"You're an asshole."

Vergil raised an eyebrow and then, smirked. "I shall give you something to justify that."

The blue clad Devil disappeared into the hallway and Nero glared at the spot he'd been standing before continuing eating his breakfast with a frown. What was his father going to do? Take away from him everything he didn't care about?

Nero knew Vergil didn't need food but needed water; not exactly to drink, but for his meticulous cleaning habits, which meant he also needed to pay the gas bill to have his scalding hot showers. He needed electricity, at least for his nightly reading, or so Nero wanted to believe.

With that in mind, Nero cared little about those things. He had a job; he didn't earn much but it was enough to allow him to buy what he needed until the old man decided to stop being dramatic.

But, when he saw a shiny silver tip poking out from the hallway he muttered under his breath: "You have to be kidding me."

"Are you seriously going to do that?" He asked with a mix of anger and disbelief as he forgot about his meal to pursue his father, only to catch a glimpse of his back and his sword. "I'm not ten anymore; you can't just confiscate my things."

"You still act like a child." He heard his father's muffled answer coming from his room.

Nero sighed as he entered Vergil's bedroom and leaned against the doorframe. Vergil ignored him. A quick scan of his immaculate bedroom told him that he hid Red Queen.

"Leave." Vergil commanded.

"Not until you give me back my sword."

"Leave," Vergil repeated. "I will not tell you a third time."

Nero smirked and shook his head as he crossed his arms around his chest.

"As you wish." Vergil said and left the room.

Nero took the action as a small victory even if he had no intention of making a deep search in Vergil's room to find Red Queen. He looked under the bed and quickly glanced inside the closet as well as behind the thick curtains. There was nothing there.

Defeated and sure Vergil had taken it with him and had it somewhere in that long coat he always wore, he left the room. His father was sitting calmly at the table with a steaming cup of tea and an old book placed in front of him. Nero raised an eyebrow and stopped when he noticed the door to his room was wide open.

"Oh, come on!"

After a few minutes of his intense search for lost items, Nero emerged from his room at stared at his father, who simply flipped a page of his book before raising the mug to his lips.

"You don't even like guns or use a damn cellphone, Vergil."

"Clean the house, buy groceries and do the laundry and I will consider giving them back within a week." Vergil said, his eyes never leaving page on his book.

Nero dejectedly obliged. It wasn't surprising considering what Vergil had done the last time Nero disobeyed him.

Still, he gave him back his weapons and cellphone two weeks after that for being a prick.

* * *

Thank you for reading!

Disclaimer: Devil May Cry and its characters belong to Capcom.


	4. Meals

Contrary to popular belief, Vergil could cook. He could do basic things, nothing too especial or fancy, just the necessary to be able to feed Nero with a decent meal three times a day. So far the kid had never criticized his cooking or the repetitive choice of meals.

Truthfully, Vergil had no time to learn how to prepare a vast variety of dishes, and Nero didn't complain as long as he didn't eat the same thing in consecutive days; what he did complain about were vegetables. It was a hard task to get him to eat anything remotely healthy, especially when he claimed that he was allergic to anything green yet had no doubts when eating grapes or apples.

It was more annoying and difficult than Vergil wanted it to be.

"I don't like it. It tastes yucky." Nero complained as he pushed away his bowl with salad for the third time and crossed his arms.

"You have to eat it." Vergil replied as he slid the bowl towards Nero.

"No! Why don't you eat it?" Nero retorted and, once again, pushed the bowl away from him, this time towards Vergil.

"I do not need it."

Nero scoffed. "If you don't need it then neither do I."

"I will not let you leave this table until you eat it."

"That's unfair!" Nero cried out.

Vergil sighed. "Eat."

"You never eat." Nero pointed out and then, after a pause, he added with curiosity: "How come you are not dead yet?"

"We are different." Vergil said simply. His patience was wearing thin, and the last thing he wanted to do was to explain with detail the situation.

"Why?"

"Because we do not share the exact same blood." Vergil just had enough with the kid asking why to everything he said. He understood it was a stage in every child's life -he had been in the same situation in his early years-, yet never knew how maddening it must have been for his parents to answer every single one of his inquiries.

"Why?"

"You know why." Vergil hissed.

Nero stared at his father with wide eyes for a few seconds, noticing he pissed him off. "…Why do I know why?"

"Go to your room. No dessert, television or games for the rest of the day."

"Oh ok." Nero hopped off the chair with a goofy grin and left the kitchen.

Vergil could not let his spawn win.

He stored the salad in the fridge and put fruit on top the next morning and made Nero eat it for breakfast.

* * *

Happy Valentines Day! Hope you had a great day.

semenosuke: Well, Nero's definitely not a saint! That's a great suggestion; I didn't have time to write this week so I promise I'll make that the next chapter. Thanks!

Disclaimer: Devil May Cry and its characters belong to Capcom.


	5. The morning after

She left him. Them.

Vergil, for once, considered himself foolish. He'd made one mistake after another for the last months and now that he thought it through, he knew he should've seen it coming.

She was frail, weak, a coward. He considered her only as an outlet, and now he was far too deep to have second thoughts about it.

If it hadn't been for the lousy neighbor in her apartment complex he would have never known about him. She saw him knocking on the door of her former apartment and, without wasting time, had pocked her head from her open door and called him, deeming it urgent. They had never met.

He was about to decline when the elderly lady stated the fact: she moved out a week ago and left her child in her custody, claiming she needed to run errands and promising to be back soon.

Vergil didn't even know she was pregnant. He didn't saw her often, and the last time they met she must have been oblivious to her pregnancy.

He had no choice but to spend the night at a nearby hotel. The lady had given him an infant car seat and a ridiculous brown diaper back with a couple of baby bottles, a half-empty can of powdered milk, diapers and baby wipes. His transporting methods were reduced, not to mention he felt like a fool walking with that damned thing on his shoulder. He made it a priority to buy a more suitable container the next day.

The hotel was half-decent for his standards, yet it was the closest he could find from the apartment complex. He left with disdain the bag on the center of the bed and stared at the sleeping baby. They were just alike, he couldn't deny it, they had the same hair and eye color, but he noticed the shape of his eyes and nose resembled his mother's.

Vergil wasn't afraid of taking care of a child or becoming a parent, yet they were thoughts that never crossed his mind. He had plans that required his full attention and concentration and now he could see them crumbling on his mind, he couldn't do much with the child around, at least for the time being.

The calculating part on his mind thought about leaving the child behind and moving on, abandoning him in an orphanage or even in the room he was staying the night, yet there was an urge inside his mind that refused to cave into those thoughts, a blood call, a strong yet unwanted bond that came from his demonic roots.

He was his child, after all, he couldn't let a human raise him with foolish assumptions and meaningless lessons. He would have to do it on his own, he had no choice.

His name was Nero. Giving him that name was the only smart thing the mother did.

Vergil grunted when a strange odor captured his attention and the infant woke up and started to bawl loudly. He awkwardly raised the child and held him at arm's length and then, to his dismay, he realized the smell was coming from the Nero's diaper.

Out of all the possible outcomes, the child had chosen to fill his diaper. Vergil grabbed the bag from the bed with his left hand and used his right arm to grab a hold of the crying child. He entered the bathroom and laid the kid down in the free space beside the sink, inevitably flattening the contents of the diaper and sticking them into the skin of the child.

With furrowed brows, he discarded the used diaper and, noticing the sticky and warm mess in Nero's buttocks, he decided that simple toilet paper or towels just wouldn't be enough to clean him. He opted to clean him in the tub with the warm water coming out of the faucet and a sponge. He had to throw away the sponge afterwards, deeming it unusable.

Still, even after he had cleaned Nero, the tub and sink, the lingering smell was hard to bear.

Still frowning and now with a clean Nero, he moved towards the bed and lay down the child in the bed, watching him move and inspect everything on his line of sight.

Unfortunately, it took him little time to start crying again for an unknown reason.

"What do you want now?" Vergil inquired as he held his child. Nero answered with louder cries.

Thinking that perhaps he just wanted to be rocked, he brought him closer to his chest and started to move his arms softly side to side with no avail. He raised an eyebrow when a tiny hand trying to sweep the fabric of his coat to pat his chest.

He found the situation annoyingly amusing.

After a call to room service, he was provided with a kettle full of warm water that was used to prepare the baby's formula. Vergil felt odd feeding such a small and fragile creature, and found it even stranger that the creature was his.

Making the infant burp was another displeasing task Vergil had to endure. The small patch of vomit traveled down the small towel he placed on his shoulder and into his coat. He was not amused.

By nighttime he felt drained and was craving rest from the little pest and, to his surprise, so did Nero. Having no crib of anything alike for the drowsy child, he placed him at his side and put pillows on the opposite side to minimize Nero's movement.

Vergil hated to admit it, but he needed assistance until he found a suitable place to live. He could no longer rely on hotel rooms.

He could only think about one person that could aid him.

* * *

B: Actually, they didn't cross my mind! I did thought about Kyrie but in a different context, never involving Vergil's reaction and, well, Vergil trying to talk about sex with Nero is now going to become a priority. Thanks for the suggestions!

Disclaimer: Devil May Cry and its characters belong to Capcom.


	6. Invisible monsters II

Dante had never seen Vergil like that.

His brother was composed, calm in the oddest of situations. He'd seen the way he fought and the tactics he used. He remembered a Vergil who calculated the attacks so carefully that it reminded him of a complicated choreographed dance; he maneuvered his way around, knew when, where and how to strike. He had his own rules; his pride and honor were far too stuck in his head to set him off easily, but it never meant he was an easy or naïve foe.

And now he was enraged. And there was nothing they could do to stop him.

It was a crude fight and Dante was sure his brother was not thinking straight. The way he moved and attacked seemed overly heavy, animalistic; he was doing too much, making sure to kill every one of creatures causing as much pain and misery he could manage to give.

Vergil was a flash of blue with a speck of silver from Yamato; blood pooled around his boots and was splattered on his clothes in a mess of crimson and black pieces of flesh. Dante could hear him grunting with every particularly heavy blow, distorted by the effect of his Devil being unleashed.

Dante had seen him like that before; he knew the exact amount of pain every attack made. Vergil was making overkills, beating the lifeless remains of the creatures into a bloody mess of guts.

He was giving them a clear message: Don't you dare to touch him again.

Vergil stopped only when he deemed the damage had been enough and allowed his human form to take over. When Dante saw his face, he saw neither pride nor regret; Vergil didn't care about what he had done, the bleeding diagonal gash going from Nero's forehead to his cheek was his only point of focus.

Nero had stopped sobbing a while back, but tears were still rolling down his face and, when he saw Vergil walking over to them, he grabbed a fistful of Dante's coat and hid behind him as the subtle cries began to be heard again.

For once, Nero was afraid of Vergil.

Dante understood both parts, he knew that Vergil wanted to protect his child and punish those who caused him harm but his method was not exactly the most appropriated, especially when Nero got to see the hell he could unleash and thus, he understood the fear and panic the kid felt.

And for now, it seemed better to let them both do what they wanted to do and stand aside.

So Nero kept clinging to his coat and Vergil only glanced at him as he walked past them.

* * *

Promise the next chapter is going to be Vergil giving the sex talk.

Thanks for all the support!

Disclaimer: Devil May Cry and its characters belong to Capcom.


	7. Sex

Vergil felt it was his obligation to assure his spawn had knowledge of it, even if he found the task unpleasant.

Dante seemed like a more suitable option to speak to the child about it, seeing he had far more experience on that field and no shame to speak about the little details that Vergil would rather dismiss, but the blue clad Devil knew that he couldn't recur to his brother for aid. It was a cowardly move that he refused to make.

He had to choose a moment that ensured he would have Nero's complete attention, and turning off the television near the ending of a silly show Nero was engrossed in did the trick.

"What was that for?" Nero exclaimed, feebly glaring at his father.

"We must speak."

"It can wait." Nero reached over to grab the controller from Vergil's hand and frowned when he moved it out of reach and, realizing Vergil would not stop pestering him until he gave in, he sighed. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Intercourse."

"Hell no."

They both noticed the tension in the air and Nero's constant shifting only indicated he was anxious to get it over with, yet Vergil only stared.

"Get this over with already." Nero sighed with annoyance and crossed his arms against his chest.

"How much do you know about intercourse?"

Nero hid the smile that threatened to form on his lips. Vergil had no clue how to speak of such matters with him. They never really talked much, they were just comments or commands, nothing ever too serious and now Vergil was stepping into uncharted territory. If he was going to have to listen, he might as well get something out of it, no matter how embarrassing it would turn he would give Vergil hell until he decided to shut up.

"Nothing really. They don't teach you that kind of stuff at school." A little scratch at the top of his nose was enough to keep Nero composed.

Vergil's expression changed. He wanted to keep it casual but now he had no choice but to break it down to tidbits. It failed to get unnoticed by Nero.

Vergil nodded slightly. "Intercourse is a sexual act between a man and a woman-"

"What about homosexuals?"

"Between beings," Vergil corrected, sighing out of annoyance. "Reproduction ensures that species continue existing."

"Alright…How do you have sex?" Nero let his elbows rest on the table and brought his intertwined hands in front of his mouth to hide his smirk

"In a male case, you insert your erected member into a female's cavity."

"Oral cavity?" Nero blurted. He knew he was going to regret it later, but at least he would have something solid to laugh at with Dante. They were not going to let Vergil live up to that.

"In case of oral sex, yes."

"Have you had oral sex before?" The question sounded far more casual than Nero thought it would be. The thought of casually recording the conversation crossed his mind yet he quickly discarded the option; last thing he wanted was to recreate the awkwardness of the situation and his silly questions.

Vergil shook his head in reply.

"Alright, I get the concept." Vergil's mood lightened at Nero's words, yet it only lasted scares seconds before Nero asked with a tone that made Vergil's eyebrows furrow. "How do men have sex with each other?"

"Ask Dante. That is out of my line of experience." Nero snorted to suppress a laugh. Vergil wasn't fooled by it and glared. "This is a serious matter, Nero." He scolded.

"Aren't you supposed to be talking about diseases and alike?" Nero asked, ignoring Vergil's comment.

"Wear a condom, do not be foolish." Vergil simply replied.

"…That's it? You're not going to tell me what happens if I catch something?"

"I do not care for those trivialities, I am immune to them." Vergil dismissed.

"Yeah, you are but I'm not. What if I die?" Nero could tell that by Vergil's expression he found the question unamusing. Nero believed that made it even more comical.

"Would suit you well for disobeying my advice."

"Advice? Since when _you _give me advice?" Nero leaned forward, letting one arm support his chin.

"I do not want any grandchildren." After a slight pause, Vergil added: "You are far too young, and that friend of yours is only creating poorer judgments in your mind."

"She's my girlfriend; deal with it." Vergil ignored his comment.

The blue clad Devil made a motion to stand up and stopped when Nero made another question. "How many women have you been with? You don't seem like the guy that would have sex at all." It was, by far, the only question Nero was genuinely interested in. Vergil was giving him the opportunity to ask away, he sure as hell was not going to miss it.

"One. Is that all?"

Nero raised an eyebrow. He didn't know how to feel about it. Not that it truly mattered anyway, it was just surprising; Vergil was a stuck up and the fact that one woman could manage to stand his guts was remarkable, more than one would be some sort of miracle.

"One last thing "Nero glanced down and pressed a few buttons of his cellphone and watched a little red light lit up above the screen before casually lifting the cellphone to pretend to look at the time. "How do women have sex?" The face of his overly conservative father was priceless. He decided that a video would be more hilarious than a voice recording.

Dante was going to love that.

* * *

Eh, I apologize if they seemed OOC.

Disclaimer: Devil May Cry and its characters belong to Capcom.


	8. Cold

All Nero had left were a sword and a pendant. Nothing else and nothing more.

Dante told him that he didn't know it was him or else he would have never done it. He told him that over and over again, perhaps to make sure he understood or to ease the guilt, Nero didn't know and didn't care. Dante apologized.

Words were powerless; there was nothing they could do. Not now.

Nero listened carefully to Dante's story, asking why in certain parts and how in others. He wanted to know it all. But Dante didn't have the answers that he desperately strived for. All Dante knew is that he had been in pain; Nero wanted to believe that Dante did him a favor, and that he would have been in worse conditions if he was still there, but he knew it was all a futile cause.

He wanted him back.

He couldn't blame Dante even if he wanted to, not in the condition he was. He killed his twin brother in cold blood; he toyed around with a faceless knight and realized far too late about his mistake. He was protecting himself, he didn't know.

And most of all, he was hurt. Vergil was all he had left. All they had left. The pain he felt was real, the blame and shame enlaced with his words were real too. And his silence said more than all the words he had said over the night.

Still, Nero resented Dante, and found it nearly impossible to be near him without snapping and placing all the blame on him.

He opted to go to an empty house were there once had been two. He barely had the strength to lock the door behind him.

He felt strangely drawn towards Vergil's cold room even if there was nothing in there for him. He sat on the bed and stared at what had been his belongings. The objects and furniture had a small coat of dust on them even if Nero took the task to clean the room twice a week in case he came back. He knew he would have been upset knowing that he had been touching his things, maybe he wouldn't even thank him for the effort, but he did it anyways.

He wasn't the best father, but at least he tried.

* * *

Disclaimer: Devil May Cry and its characters belong to Capcom.


	9. Kyrie

Nero could feel the atmosphere around them change with the tension of the moment.

He took one last look between Vergil's untouched dish of pan fried salmon and rice with vegetables and Kyrie's face.

At least he was drinking the coffee she made.

Nero could almost hear him say it was the only thing she'd done right.

It was the first time she visited Capulet City and Nero's home; the logical thing to do seemed to meet her boyfriend's father. He figured she now knew why he refused countless times and tried to coax her to have dinner in one of the decent restaurants downtown.

Nero was semi aware he was glaring at Vergil now.

It took Kyrie more than a month to convince her brother to let her travel alone to Capulet. Credo wasn't overly fond of Nero, and the idea of letting her baby sister spend a whole day with the guy he believed was a senseless bastard not worthy of her sister's company was too much to ask. Nero had no clue how Kyrie finally managed to persuade him.

When he saw her arriving at Capulet, she had a shopping basket on her hand and a warm smile on her lips. When Nero questioned the basket she answered that, according to an elderly friend of hers, Fortuna's vegetables and fish were tastier than Capulet's.

Nero tried to get the idea out of her head and in the end he couldn't fight back. She wanted to make a good first impression since it had been rude to not even introduce herself over the phone and simply sending her regards with Nero. He never told her that Vergil never received those little greetings.

Kyrie liked the idea of being in Capulet and giving out a little gesture of cordiality. After all, she and Nero had been together for almost a year, and while his father was barely mentioned, Credo, the only Kyrie could look up as a fatherly figure, was present in their lives. She believed it should be reciprocal.

Nero didn't talk much about his father. If anything, he mentioned Dante and still not so often.

Nero was well aware that his father knew about Kyrie and didn't give a damn about it.

And now he saw that he was wrong. He had a problem with her.

Kyrie was a good girl. Nero knew she would try to mark Vergil as shy and not label him as an asshole, but he wasn't going to keep him mouth shut about it.

"She spent the whole afternoon doing that, you know? The least you could have done was taste it." Nero hissed as he crossed his arms against his chest and kicked the front door to close it. Five minutes ago he bid Kyrie farewell and watched her go in a medium sized boat with around fifteen other people. She worried that Vergil didn't approved of her company. Nero tried his best to hide his anger and dismiss Kyrie's worries.

Nero had a slight idea why Vergil was so rude with her. Dante warned him about it about six months ago when he found out he had a girlfriend, yet Nero had brushed it aside. Now he comprehended the mistake he made when he talked about Kyrie or even showed signs of her being part of his life.

"I don't know what your problem is," Nero added when Vergil ignored his first attempt to make a conversation. "But you were an asshole."

"She is not suitable for you."

"Why? Because she is human?" Nero sneered. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm human as well."

"You are not." Vergil's reply was flat, yet Nero could sense the anger stirring deep down.

"Are you ever going to accept it? I am not you. You made a mistake with my mother, so be it. I am not going to do what you want me to." Nero made a pause and returned the glare Vergil was giving him with the same force. "I don't take any pride knowing I'm part Devil, not now, not ever. I want to feel normal for once."

"You are not normal, you will never be considered normal." There was something odd in Vergil's voice, something Nero didn't care to decipher at the time. "You must accept what you are."

Nero laughed bitterly. "I'm a monster, just like you are; I have no trouble accepting it. The difference is that I fight it back."

Nero reached for the doorknob and twisted it with more force than necessary. "You have no idea about how much I wish Dante was my father."

If Vergil ever made a further comment, Nero didn't hear it over the sound of the door closing loudly.

* * *

Sorry for taking so long to update!  
This is the second version of "Kyrie" since I had some doubts about the first one and pretty much had to write it again from scratch. I guess I could upload it later on but it's pretty much the same ending with a different start and a guest appearance from Dante.

Anyways, thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: Devil May Cry and its characters belong to Capcom.


	10. Father's Day

Vergil didn't care about holidays of any kind, they were trivialities that he had no time to endure but unfortunately, now that he had Nero, he had to at least pretend to celebrate them. He could always drop Nero off in Dante's house and make him celebrate with his bubbly pest, but today the last thing he wanted to do was keep those two together.

Nero burst into his room at around six am to give him a secret present, even if Vergil knew what it was all along he kept quiet. He didn't have a cellphone, but Nero's preschool required a number in case of emergency and he'd given them Dante's. They had a meeting of sorts to acquire funds for the gifts and Dante didn't have second doubts to give them the 10 dollars they were asking for. After explaining what it was in a mocking tone, he claimed that he would've given them double if needed.

The gift was a square wooden key holder with Nero's picture in the middle, nothing too fancy or complicated. His child was proud of his work, even if all he did was trace the word 'Daddy' at the top with some kind of colorful glue

Vergil would've preferred that it said father, daddy sounded too…pretentious.

Still, he hung it next to the front door after Nero's continuous whining that almost turned into a tearful hissy fit just to keep his mouth shut.

Vergil barely used it, but never took it down.

* * *

"Do not touch it." Vergil's words surprised Nero. It was just an old handcraft and Vergil wasn't the kind of guy to hold sentimental value over things, let alone objects Nero knew he disliked.

"It's trash." Nero's attempts to comprehend Vergil's protectiveness over the damn thing came to an end when he saw the devilish smirk forming on his father's lips.

"You cried when I mentioned I desired to get rid of it. I fear what would happen to you if I took it down."

Nero snorted, finding his father's words unamusing. Vergil was one to hold grudges.

* * *

Disclaimer: Devil May Cry and its characters belong to Capcom.


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